Okay, first let's get the obvious out of the way - Usain Bolt is the greatest sprinter that the sport has ever seen.
Was there ever any doubt really, that the incredible Jamaican would do anything but what he does - give the world a show they will never forget.
It might not have been visually as spectacular as the 100 meter final in Beijing four years ago, but in every other aspect this took the cake. Billed as the biggest race ever, with potentially the most competitive field, Bolt towered above them all, like a man possessed with the greatest gift that the sprinting world has ever seen.
The Jamaican won gold with a time of 9.63 seconds, .12 seconds ahead of the silver medallist Yohan Blake, quite a staggering margin of victory for the 100 meters. The race also saw seven of the eight runners dip under the 10 second mark, with Asafa Powell, who pulled up injured, the only exception. So the timings proved the race was indeed competitive, which takes Bolt's achievement into greater heights.
Negativity surrounded around one of the most positive men in athletics, over the last few months. Losses to Blake in the Jamaican Olympic Trials in both the 100 and the 200, only gave fodder to the critics waiting to pounce on the enigmatic 25-year-old, with several claiming his reign as the sprint king was over, and it was now his training partner Blake's time to shine on the international stage.
Bolt had a point or two to prove though. His false start in the 100 meter world championship finals in Daegu last year, left a bad taste in everyone's mouth, and left everyone wondering what could have been. Would he have been still beaten by the "Beast", who went on to claim his first world title?
"The reason it's sweeter is because a lot of you guys doubted me," Bolt told reporters after the race. "I'm showing the world I'm the greatest and I'm going to show up on the day.
"It was one of the greatest races of all time. The field is a championship field," Bolt said. "After Beijing people were saying it was because Tyson wasn't there so I had to go and beat him in the world champs the next year. To have the four next best in the world, it was an honor to go out and compete."
That statement underlines the seriousness and dedication that exists underneath the happy-go-lucky exterior. Bolt, at the end of the day like all the other champions, is a competitor first, a showman second. The disqualification at the World championships hurt him; the losses at the Jamaican Trials, even more.
Bolt is essentially a man born to shine at the big stage, and there is no bigger stage than the 100 meter finals at the Olympics, in front of an 80,000 capacity crowd in London, screaming the roof off in support of their favorite athlete.
Now the legendary gloss needs to be added; the 200m race awaits, a competition that many believed Bolt was unbeatable in, before Blake usurped him at the Trials. So, he has a point to prove in the longer sprint as well, something that Bolt is extremely aware of.
"It means one step closer to being a legend. That's one step; I have the 200 meters to go, so I'm looking forward to that."
